Entries tagged with: sxsw

In spite of the heavier tone of her new material, the electric part of the set is quite short. "We're going to tone it down a bit," she said, taking up her acoustic guitar for "Walk Alone," one of Short Movie's quieter moments, followed by "David," whose lyric "A wasted love is a life of regret" she sings with the full-throated emotion of a wizened woman. The earlier music that she sprinkles through the set is rearranged and the phrasing adapted slightly so that new emotion is wrung out. "The Muse" and "Master Hunter" are played faster and fuller. It sounds fresh, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun performing them that way, barely pausing for breath. - [Village Voice]

UK singer-songwriter Laura Marling released her acclaimed new album, Short Movie, this week and celebrated here in NYC with a show at Warsaw on Monday (3/23) with her Domino labelmate, Villagers. You can check out the setlist and video of Short Movie's title track and "Gurdjieff's Daughter" below. We caught Villagers the next night (3/24) at Union Pool.

Right before the NYC show, Marling was in Austin for SXSW and we caught her on Thursday (3/19) at Mohawk, which was rechristened House of Vans for the week. Pictures of her set there are in this post.

Kicking the day off inside was the hyped, XL-signed UK electronic artist East India Youth who played solo with a variety of synths and drum machines. He was followed by a rare US appearance by Vietnamese rapper Suboi (with Fool's Gold-signed DJ Sammy Bananas). She was the first Vietnamese artist to ever play SXSW, the BV show was one of only two sets she played in Austin this week, and it definitely seemed like an excited crowd came out specifically to see her. Before SXSW she played San Francisco, and since SXSW, was in NYC (last night).

Then it was Philly's Alex G whose DIY indie rock was as entertaining as his deadpan stage banter. Following Alex was The Lees of Memory, the current band of Superdrag singer John Davis and guitarist Brandon Fisher, who were joined by four other musicians. Their album is shoegaze, but the live show was more like the '90s alternative of Superdrag and (in this writer's opinion) one of the day's most enjoyable sets.

Things got darker and more intense after The Lees for Ex-Cult, whose abrasive psych punk was loud, in your face, and full of attitude. That kind of intense attitude didn't go away when post-punk pioneers The Pop Group followed. It's easy to throw around the phrase "ahead of their time," but The Pop Group's set even sounded radical in 2015. Frontman Mark Stewart praised the US for having a great underground music scene, which was pretty amazing coming from a person still embodying underground music over 35 years after his band's debut album. Iceage, a comparatively much newer band who owe much to the scene The Pop Group helped start, wrapped up the day on a high note.

The outside stage began with Australia's Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders (who also played NYC last night), a quirky crew fronted by the Nick Cave-like frontman Jack Ladder and featuring a cast of backing musicians (Kirin J Callinan included) who all looked like very different genuine weirdos (in a good way). Their set of baritone-fueled new wave was great, and Jack's stage banter was funny too.

They were followed by Public Access TV, the new-ish New York band who hearkened back to the city's early 2000s garage rock revival. They've since gotten some very bad news while still out on tour.

Then it was soulful singer Gabriel Garzon-Montano, whose voice first caught our ears on the new Drake album and sounded great live too. The filled-in-trying-to-stay-dry crowd was into him too. Things then changed pretty drastically as UK folk punk Frank Turner played solo acoustic, which was a pretty great laid-back set to hear outdoors mid-afternoon. He was followed by a band who weren't laid back at all, the shredding punk trio Screaming Females. We caught them back in NYC only a few weeks prior, but no matter how many times we see them their shows never fail to be totally intense. Then came Ceremony, the ever-changing punk band who played an excellent set with material from most phases of their career. They also played songs off their new album coming out this May, which had serious Joy Division vibes.

Frank Turner @ BrooklynVegan SXSW @ Red 7 - 3/21/2015

Then wrapping up the day was my personal favorite set of the BV day parties (and maybe of everything I saw at SXSW): Mew. The proggy, dreamy Danish band paired stuff off their new album (like "Satellites") with older favorites (like "Am I Wry? No" into "156"), and all of it sounded great. The fact that this year was a very rainy SXSW was unfortunate, but it started coming down pretty hard during Mew's set and that whole atmosphere was perfect.

Thanks to our sponsors MailChimp, Dropkloud, and Esurance (who let 30 people skip the line each day) for helping make it all possible. If you unlocked our party playlsts on your phone with the DropKloud app, you can go listen to them now. If you're still in Austin, you can still unlock them when at Red 7 with the app installed on your phone. Thanks also to Sailor Jerry for supplying drinks to our bands.

Unfortunately, Walter Schreifels' band Vanishing Life had to cancel at the last minute due to illness, so Creepoid were moved from the outside stage to the inside stage and the show got a slightly later start. But other than that (and some rain), day 2 went off without a hitch.

Philly's Creepoid, who since ran into some legal trouble, started the day on a psychedelic note, with hazy smoke machines filling the room and their bass and their swirly logo (emblazoned on their bass drum) lit up from inside the drum. It was the perfect setting for their rocking shoegaze. After them it was Kevin Devine & the Goddamn Band. The band's currently a power trio, and while Kevin's equally (or better) known for acoustic singer/songwriter stuff, they stuck mostly to their harder material which was a great fit for the day's bill. After them was The Velvet Teen, the shapeshifting rock band who are about to release their first full length in nine years on Topshelf. They played mostly stuff off that album, and the new songs sound good: like a mix of their indie rock early years and the artier tendencies they took on later on.

Power Trip

After Velvet Teen, the inside stage went officially into heavy mode with Canadian punks Single Mothers. They were in beast mode as usual and got a good amount of the crowd rowdy as well, with a handful of people up front shouting along. Then came their Canadian neighbors KEN mode who have a new bassist and a new album on the way that they previewed a handful of songs from. The new stuff has them sounding a little less metallic and a little more AmRep noise rock. It sounded great. They were followed by Power Trip, who recall a handful of early thrash and crossover bands but sound way too urgent to come off as retro. Like they tend to do, they had the whole room turned into a total madhouse. Wrapping up the inside stage was United Nations, one of Geoff Rickly's current bands. Their album makes a joke out of punk rock (while also being a killer punk album), and they did the same at their show, pairing their crushing set with stage banter that sarcastically poked fun at things like McDonald's' presence at SXSW. And for one song, Geoff broke out his old mask.

Meanwhile, the outside stage began around 12:30 with Rat Fist, a trio featuring members of No Age and Pissed Jeans who played a solid set indebted to garage and early punk. They were followed by Swedish post-punks Makthaverskan, who are currently on their first US tour and were one of the bands we were very excited to finally check out. They sounded great, and their singer's excitable stage presence was fun to watch too. Then came their Run for Cover labelmates Pity Sex, whose hard-hitting shoegaze sounded as good as ever. Up next was Pianos Become the Teeth (who share a rhythm section with United Nations), who played an intense set pulling almost entirely from their newest album, the post-hardcore band's first without screaming. Then the day ended with two veterans: first Mac McCaughan of Superchunk who previewed his upcoming debut solo album, and then shoegazers Swervedriver who just put out their first album since 1998 that (perhaps thanks to bands like Pity Sex and Creepoid) doesn't sound dated at all.

Swervedriver

Thanks to our sponsors Dropkloud, Esurance (who let 30 people skip the line each day) and MailChimp for helping make the party possible. If you unlocked our party playlsts on your phone with the DropKloud app, you can go listen to them now. If you're still in Austin, you can still unlock them when at Red 7 with the app installed on your phone. Thanks also to Sailor Jerry for helping keep our artists relaxed.

Bluesy garage rockers Heartless Bastards will release the followup to 2012's Arrow with Restless Ones on June 16 via Partisan. The album was produced by John Congleton, who's recently helmed records by St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, Swans, Cloud Nothings and others. You can hear a few clips at restlessones.net.

The band also announced a tour with support from Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn taking place June into early July. Craig's on almost every show, but not the one in NYC, which happens June 15 at Webster Hall. Stay tuned to find out who's opening that one. Tickets for it go on sale Friday (3/27) at 10 AM.

The band were just in Austin for SXSW last week. Watch a video of them playing an acoustic WFUV session that was taped down there, along with a set of pictures from their Yahoo sponsored show at Brazos Hall, and their list of dates, below...

London trio Kero Kero Bonito seem as much influenced by Blue's Clues as they are by Sleigh Bells and Cibo Matto, so it's no surprise that they were more illustrative with their costumes and sets than any other artist we saw this week. Songs about graduation came with cap and gown, songs about birthdays came with wraparound cone hats, and songs with mid-song telephone conversations came with an actual rotary phone to ring and be answered. If single "Picture This" gets as big as it deserves to be, the group could do more to revitalize the Polaroid than anyone since André 3000. - [SPIN]

The Hype Machine's Hype Hotel presented by Feed the Beat has been a fixture at SXSW for a few years now, and in 2015 occupied its biggest space yet, offering up shows curated by music blogs from around the world.

We stopped by on Thursday night (3/19) for Gorilla Vs Bear's showcase, catching sets from Chastity Belt (who also played one of our day parties), ramshackle Spanish garage rockers Hinds, and UK trio Kero Kero Bonito who employed a variety of props and costumes to flesh out their live show. Pictures from all three are in this post. We left before Autre Ne Veut, Leon Bridges, and Yumi Zouma (who we caught earlier that day at our own show).

There was free Taco Bell at Hype Hotel again, but this year they also had a Mazda car made into a playable instrument with Mogees technology. Best Coast, in addition to playing Hype Hotel, got a chance to try playing the Mazda. You can watch that, and a full recap video of Hype Hotel along with more pictures, below.

Ceremony were just down in Austin for SXSW last week, playing a few shows including the BrooklynVegan Saturday party at Red 7. The shapeshifting band previewed a few songs from their upcoming album, and while people often use "sounds like Joy Division" to just mean "post-punk," these new Ceremony songs really sounded like Joy Division. Not a bad thing though, because Ceremony do it well.

Now the album's officially been announced, and studio recordings for two of the tracks, "The Separation" and "The Understanding," are out. Check them out for yourself in the band's new video (dir. Ross Thomas), below. The album's called The L-Shaped Man, and will be out May 19 via Matador.

The band also announced a few tour dates, including a NYC show happening July 1 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for that show will be on sale soon via Ticketmaster. They're also performing songs from the new album this Friday (3/27) at Kinfolk 94 (94 Wythe Ave in Brooklyn) at 6:45 PM. RSVP here, but admission is still first come, first served.

All dates are listed, with more pictures of their BV-SXSW set, the album artwork and new video, below...

The inside show began with recent Run for Cover signeesElvis Depressedly who played a set of scrappy indie rock with singer Matthew Lee Cothran's animated stage moves intact. Then Emmy the Great brought things down with a set she played mostly as a duo but with a few solo songs too. Next up was the alt-R&B of three-piece Basecamp, followed by the danceable, super fun pop of New Zealand's Yumi Zouma. Veteran Canadian band Frog Eyes came next with Carey Mercer & co's eccentric indie rock in excellent form (story about being accused of doing meth in the BrooklynVegan comments included), and then it was their neighbors from up north, Cancer Bats, whose blend of hardcore and stoner rock riffage was the heaviest set of the day. Oklahoma rockers Broncho followed, playing to one of the most packed in crowds of the day and totally sounding built to do so. Finally it was one more Canadian band to wrap up the day, METZ, who were as loud, fast and full of energy as ever.

Broncho / Speedy Ortiz

Outside the show began with the UK's Ultimate Painting, the band with members of Veronica Falls and Mazes whose Dead-like guitar jams and close harmonies were super tight and pretty perfect outdoors on a sunny afternoon. They were followed by Girlpool, who previewed some material from their upcoming debut LP and included some favorites from last year's EP that had a chunk of the crowd singing along. Then came the shouty noise rock of Ireland's Girl Band (who unlike Girlpool who played before them, don't have girls in the band), and then the smart/sarcastic indie rock of Chastity Belt ("this next song is about mansplaining"). After them it was Mitski who was more impressive than before at this show and had a lot of the crowd screaming in approval. She was followed by Speedy Ortiz, who seem to get tighter each time and whose new songs came off great live ("Raising the Skate" was especially a highlight of the set). And to end the day it was hometown heroes The Octopus Project with a highly enjoyable set of their experimental rock to a full backyard of people.

Thanks to our sponsors Dropkloud, Esurance (who let 30 people skip the line each day) and MailChimp for helping make the party possible. If you unlocked our party playlists on your phone with the DropKloud app, you can go listen to them now. If you're still in Austin, you can still unlock them when at Red 7 with the app installed on your phone. Thanks also to Sailor Jerry for helping keep our artists relaxed.

Australian group Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders just played a bunch of shows at SXSW, including the BrooklynVegan day party on Saturday (3/21). Seeing them live, Jack's bravado-filled voice fits his very tall frame well, and the band rose to the challenge of the noon opening slot well. Pictures from their performance at our show are in this post. If you haven't checked out Jack's album, Playmates, it's the kind of neon-reflected-on-rainy-streets synthnoir that might've fit in on Miami Vice or Less Than Zero. You can stream it below.

Meanwhile, Kirin is playing a free show tonight (3/25) at Baby's All Right. He'll be doing two sets: one solo, and one as a duo with Dreamlanders bassist and solo artist in his own right, Donny Benet and "there may even be a surprise performance from another associated act." Again, it's free and anything with Kirin J Callinan is pretty much guaranteed not to be boring. Is Connan Mockasin in town?

You can watch a video of Kirin and Donny performing "The Edge" (which is something to behold) below. That is from Donny's album, Weekend at Donny's which is more synthy '80s style eclecticism. In addition to Kirin, features guest lead vocals from Jack Ladder, The Preatures' Isabella Manfredi, Crayon Fields singer Geoffrey O'Connor, and other offbeat Australian indie luminaries. You can stream that below too.

Palma Violets are still in the US playing West Coast shows this week (including Burgerama) following two NYC shows and SXSW appearances. The Shea Stadium show on March 14 was as bananas as any I've seen them do, the whole place was bouncing nonstop. BV also caught them at SXSW at the Friday night Dr. Martens and Culture Collide show at Bar 96, and it was also nuts the whole time. They played after Broncho and Twin Peaks, and before Cloud Nothings. Pictures from Palma Violets' set are in this post.

The UK band will be back in North America in a couple months for a proper tour supporting their new album, Danger in the Club. That includes two NYC shows: Bowery Ballroom on May 18 and Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 20. Tickets to both shows go on AmEx presale today at noon with the general on-sale beginning Friday (3/27) at noon. All tour dates are listed below.

Philly shoegazers Creepoid were just down in Texas for SXSW, where one of their shows was a smoke machine-filled set at at the BrooklynVegan Friday party, which we have a set of pictures from below. (More pictures from the BV parties coming soon.)

Unfortunately, they ran into some trouble down there too. Guitarist Nicky Kulp was arrested in Texas after the band's van was searched. Here's what they posted to the GoFundMe campaign they launched to raise money for his bail:

On the way home from a 2-month-long tour ending at SXSW, our band was pulled over and our van was searched. Nick was detained and is currently being held on $5,000 bail in a super shitty texas prison. Nobody will issue a bail bond because we are from halfway accross the county and considered a high risk.

Again - he is currently in a Texas prison. As you can see by his picture, he won't last long in there...
Any help will be profoundly appreciated.

I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming response on getting me out of jail in Hill County Texas • I am safe and currently back with my amazing bandmates/family.
I can't currently comment on what happened, but I do greatly appreciate everyone's help and support ~ to all the amazing family, friends and fans that helped out. This is going to be a long journey and anyone who can help or support in any way would be greatly appreciated.
~Nick

Hudson Mohawke is releasing a new album called Lantern on June 16 via Warp which includes collaborations with a handful of big names, including Antony, Miguel and Jhene Aiko. The first single is a collaboration with a smaller name, Irfane who sang on Breakbot's "Baby I'm Yours." It's called "Very First Breath" and can be streamed, with the tracklist, below.

HudMo just played SXSW last week (photo above from his show at House of Vans at the Mohawk, two more below), and he's now announced more dates, including a NYC show. He comes here on May 28 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/27) at 10 AM with Live Nation, LN Mobile App, and Music Geeks presales starting Wednesday (3/25) at 10 AM.

The Dillinger Escape Plan, who played their first show in eight months in Austin this past weekend as part of the Thrasher Deathmatch at SXSW, will be heading out on the road this summer for a short East Coast headlining club tour proudly co-presented by Party Smasher Inc, BrooklynVegan and Invisible Oranges. Mutoid Man and Primitive Weapons, who shared a bill at Saint Vitus earlier this month, will be along for the ride. Rosetta also plays the Philly show.

Tickets go on sale Friday (3/27) and here are the dates and ticket links:

As the static from the modem faded, Butler played about five seconds of Shania Twain's 1999 hit "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" before launching into Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation," during which time he he fussed despondently with his levels and repeatedly yelled to the stage managers, "Cut the lights. Cut the lights PLEASE." The house finally obliged, drenching the stage and audience in darkroom red. Then it was time to worry about sound. "Turn up the monitors," Butler intoned, calmly at first, then loudly, "TURN UP THE MONITORS, I BELIEVE IN YOU."

To be fair to Butler, the FLOOD fest stage was kind of a shitshow. The sound was mostly unintelligible, and the entire evening was about an hour behind schedule. But the sense that on some level this performance was a joke to Butler didn't help the vibe, especially during the first half of the set, during which I could see several girls up in the VIP section side-eyeing the stage. - [The Verge]

Win Butler's DJ Windows 98persona has gone from being something he did while on tour with Arcade Fire to becoming a well paid attraction in his own right. He's in Austin for SXSW and played right before headliners Spoon at Wednesday night's FLoodFest, the takeover of Cedar St Courtyard by Flood (the magazine from the people who brought us Filter [who had SXSW parties in the same spot for years]). On Thursday (3/19), Butler and his brother Will as well as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman at a panel titled "Celebrity Economy in Music." Stereogum was there:

Although current topics like the unique opportunities provided by the the internet, the rise of streaming, and the utility of data were all addressed, much of the discussion returned to some very familiar themes -- concerns and debates about "selling out" are hardly new. When Simonian spoke about corporate sponsorship as a crucial source of revenue for emerging bands, arguing that it shouldn't necessarily be viewed as "selling out," Win was quick to set her straight: "It is selling out, though, just for the record." Although the importance of brands over labels may be on the rise, he wryly stated that "artists have been getting screwed over at pretty much the same rate, but now slightly different people are screwing us over."

Northern Ireland's SOAK (aka Bridie Monds-Watson) played her first North American show lastSunday afternoon (3/15) at NYC's Rockwood Music Hall. It was a couple days later then she was originally supposed to play, and ended up doing a late show at Rockwood as well. While SOAK's music can be quite serious, lyrically, Bridie was quite charming at the afternoon show, telling stories between songs. She admitted she'd been on a sugar binge since coming to the US, where Captain Crunch cereal is much less expensive than in Northern Ireland, and asked the crowd it it was normal to get giant Xs put on the back of your hands if you're underage at a show. (She had gone to see Palma Violets and Hinds the night before at Shea Stadium.) It was the songs, though, that made the biggest impression at Rockwood's intimate downstairs Stage 3, and she reminded me a bit of Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn. Her album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, is due out in June on Rough Trade.

SOAK's in Austin for SXSW and our photographer stopped by Latitude 30 on Wednesday (3/18) to catch Bridie as part of the BBC Introducing showcase. Pictures from that showcase, plus video of her performing single "Sea Creatures," are below...

Rap was not popular in Vietnam when Suboi was growing up, so anything she heard remotely like it made a big impression. Before Eminem, the energy of Will Smith's song, "Nod Ya Head," from Men in Black II, captivated her when she saw it on TV. Smith, and especially Eminem, became Suboi's English teachers. She would listen to Eminen, repeat the words, go to an Internet café, look up the lyrics, write them down, and translate them.

"That's why my English is so rude," said Suboi, who also bought a couple of Oxford grammar books to supplement her hip-hop-based language lessons, and started hanging out in areas of Saigon where tourists go, talking with them. "Oh, man, it was all bad words. It was a great way to learn English."...

Suboi, who raps in both English and Vietnamese, got her stage name from her nickname, "Su," combined with "Boi" for being a tomboy.

Now she's known as the Queen of Hip-Hop in Vietnam, the first young woman in the country to make it big in the genre, with over a million followers on Facebook, tens of thousands of YouTube views and appearances in marketing campaigns for Adidas and Samsung, among others. - [Daily Beast]

Vietnamese rapper Suboi is over in the US for her first-ever shows in the country, having played San Francisco last week and is in Austin this week for SXSW. Another first: according to a press release she is the first Vietnamese artist to ever play the festival. Check out two Suboi music videos (both directed by BV photographer Bao Nguyen) and listen to a few tracks and remixes below.

Last night (3/19) was her official SXSW showcase and she'll also be playing the BrooklynVegan free day party at Red 7 on Saturday (3/21) and she'll be backed by Fool's Gold signed DJ Sammy Bananas. RSVP to attend if you're in town.

After SXSW, Suboi will head to NYC where she'll play Baby's All Right on Thursday (3/26) with Sandunes and Hashback Hashish. Tickets are on sale.

Jack White is almost as known as a vinyl fan as he is for being a musician and chunky guac lover. His label Third Man puts out lots of limited edition vinyl, be it the fastest-released record ever made, a giant Paramount Records box set, or their "Live at Third Man" series. So it's a bit surprising to learn that The White Stripes' 2005 album, Get Behind Me Satan, never got a proper vinyl release in the US, only coming out as a limited-edition gatefold set that regularly fetches for $400 used. Third Man is finally rectifying this, and the album will be getting a repress this spring. Your first chance to get it will be on -- wait for it -- Record Store Day, as a colored vinyl double disc set. The RSD version does come with an exclusive "3D lenticular cover gatefold jacket."

In other news, Third Man will be releasing Jay Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail as a 7" inch box set in a very elaborate package:

Playing on the theme of redacted government documents and expanding it into a full, clothbound binder with the entirety of the Magna Carta...Holy Grail album spread across eight 7" 45rpm records, this piece conceived by Grammy-nominated designer Brian Roettinger is cryptographically breathtaking. It is limited to 1000 numbered sets (though not all will be released and sold on Friday) and released in conjunction with Roc Nation.

You can get a look at the Magna Carter Holy Grail set via an "unboxing" video below. The Jay Z package is a special release to celebrate the exansion of Third Man's store in Nashville which has it's unveiling on Friday (3/20).

Meanwhile, Third Man's little yellow Rolling Record Store is in Austin this week for SXSW, roving around to different shows and day parties. Its schedules stops are in a flyer below...

Hannibal Buress is currently in Austin for SXSW and yesterday tweeted: "I'm in Austin and i will play drums in your band tomorrow between 12-5pm. I can't play drums. It'll be bad." Speedy Ortiz' Sadie Dupuis took him up on the offer, replying, "hey @hannibalburess yr cordially invited to drum with speedy ortiz at the @pitchfork showcase at @mohawkaustin, 1 pm. or we could get pizza." And soon after, Hannibal did just that, sitting in on Speedy's "MKVI" during the set at the Pitchfork party at Mohawk. You can watch it below.

Speedy Ortiz will play BrooklynVegan's SXSW day party today at Red 7, taking the 4:20 slot on the outside stage. Today's show also has METZ, Broncho, Chastity Belt, Girlpool and more. You can RSVP for all three days of BV parties. If you're in Austin, hope to see you there!

In related news, Splitsider reports that Comedy Central has picked up Hannibal Buress' reality show, Unemployable, which has the comedian (and Broad City scene-stealer) trying out a different job each week. We look forward to seeing that.

The three FREE BrooklynVegan SXSW day parties at Red 7 in Austin begin TODAY (Thursday, 3/19). We're taking over both stages of the 6th & Red River venue from noon-6pm and doing it again Friday (3/20) and Saturday (3/21) too. You can RSVP for all three days. If you're in Austin, hope to see you there!

Despite what it sometimes seems like by reading music sites like this one, most people are not in Austin for SXSW (and that includes the person writing this post). However, if you would like to follow along at home, you can do so this year via SXSW ON, which is streaming panel discussions, special presentations and live music front the fest non-stop no through Saturday night (3/21). Much of that is live streaming, such as Spoon live from Auditorium Shores on Thursday (3/19) at 8 PM CDT, a panel discussion with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman on Friday (3/20) at 3 PM CDT, and Swervedriver and The Church live from Emo's on Saturday (3/21) starting at 10 PM CDT.

You can view SXSW ON on via YouTube and on Roku too. The YouTube stream and list of daily programming highlights are below...

Elvis Depressedly, the band of Matthew Lee Cothran (Coma Cinema), Delaney Mills and a revolving cast of collaborators, are set to release their debut album, New Alhambra, this spring via Run for Cover. So far, two songs are out from that album. Matthew's got a Dan Bejar-esque quality to his voice, and if Destroyer is in fact an influence here, both songs sound like they came from very different parts of his career. There's "N.M.S.S." (aka "no more sad songs") that sounds like lo-fi folk off of Streethawk: A Seduction, and the loungey pop of "Bruises (Amethyst)" which would fit comfortably on the more recent Kaputt. Listen to both below.

Elvis Depressedly has been on tour with Alex G, both of whom are playing separate free BrooklynVegan day parties at Red 7 during SXSW this week. Elvis is on our Thursday party with METZ, Speedy Ortiz, and more; and Alex is on the Saturday party with Mew, Ceremony, Screaming Females and more.

Meanwhile Alex G signed to Domino Publishing, and has a new LP due out later this year.

Postpunk icons The Pop Group just rolled through NYC, playing two shows as part of their Citizen Zombie tour which is also their first full US trek ever. The first was at Rough Trade on Monday (3/16) and despite a late start, the band were in good form and spirits. Frontman Mark Stewart strode out on stage and immediately began spinning, literally winding himself up for the show where he almost never stopped moving. The show kicked off with their 1979 classic single "We Are All Prostitutes" which led nicely into the dubbed-out bombast of the title cut of Citizen Zombie (their first in 35 years). Bassist Dan Castis and drummer Bruce Smith are still a killer rhythm section, Gareth Saeger remains a lithe, funky guitarist...and Mark Stewart continues to hold court with his distinctive yelp and magnetic stage presence.

Their set was pretty much equal parts Citizen Zombie cuts and first-gen Pop songs like "Where There's a Will" and "She Is Beyond Good and Evil," which probably got the biggest crowd reaction of the night. The new songs are still being worked out live and a couple, stripped of studio wizardry, came off kinda like deep cuts from The Clash's Sandinista while other ones like "Shadow Child" ("Maybe the strangest song we've ever written") successfully translated their paranoid dub to 2015. The Pop Group are still at their best when at their most obtuse. (Setlist is below) Stewart was fairly chatty with the crowd, talking about visiting '70s-era NYC spots Mudd Club, Danceteria and, his "fave," Tier 3 and then dedicating a song to his old friend "Patty Hearst"... before sheepishly correcting himself. "Smith. I meant Patty Smith!"

The night got off to a great start with Pampers who probably share a similar ideology with The Pop Group, though definitely not approach. Their fuck-off brand of punk is bile black but hooky, with their singer barking into an abused Casio SK-1 adding weird loops. You can catch them again at their two-night Union Pool stand in April. Pictures from their set are below.

Jimmy Kimmel Live is broadcasting from Austin this week, partaking in all the SXSW craziness. Last night, hometown heroes Spoon stopped by, performing "Rainy Taxi" and "I Just Don't Understand" from last year's They Want My Soul. You can watch both below. Spoon's SXSW shows wrap up on Thursday (3/19) with a big free show at Auditorium Shores.

Appearing on Kimmel's SXSW shows this week: The Weeknd on Thursday and Willie Nelson on Friday (3/20). He's also been offering to make commercials for local Austin businesses, and got Matthew McConaughey to help out for spot for DVD/VHS rental place Vulcan Video. You can watch that below too.

BrooklynVegan is in Austin for SXSW as well, with free day parties at Red 7 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

If you'll be in Austin for SXSW this week, there's one chance to catch Brooklyn dance duo Teengirl Fantasy. They play the Moog Music / Switched On show at Elysium on Saturday (3/21) with Matrixxman, Patricia, Sevdaliza, Fielded and Marcel Dettmann (who plays NYC the next day). Tickets will be available at the door but badge/wristband-holders have priority.

What's the most essential thing to bring to Austin? Bring a fun but sort of masochistic attitude. SXSW is like a marathon.

...What's your favorite thing about South by? The festival signifies the beginning of spring. If you're coming from NYC, it's nice not to have to wear the heavy jackets you've been wearing and by the time you come back, it's a little warmer already.

Wavves and Cloud Nothings have been talking about their collaborative album for a while now, and recently said it'd be out this year. Now it's finally been announced. It's called No Life For Me, and that's the album artwork above. Wavves' Nathan Williams and Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi co-wrote the whole record together (except one song, "Such A Drag," just written by Nathan), and Nathan's brother Joel (who he plays with in Sweet Valley and Spirit Club) produced the album. Wavves members Stephen Pope and Brian Hill played on it, as did Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij. Release date TBA, but it's coming out via Ghost Ramp.

Baltimore atmospheric post-hardcore band Pianos Become the Teeth have a 7" planned for this year's Record Store Day (4/18) titled Close. It features "895" and "Dancing," two unreleased tracks from the sessions for their excellent 2014 album, Keep You (on Epitaph). The record will be available on white/blue/clear swirl vinyl.

Pianos have a ton of tour dates coming up, including SXSW this week where one of their shows is the free BrooklynVegan Friday day party at Red 7 with United Nations (with whom they share members), Power Trip, Swervedriver, Superchunk's Mac McCaughan, Pity Sex, and many more.